The Paris baker: apricot galettes

Galettes are free-form tarts that have a delightful rustic charm. As they are not made in a tart tin you can make them in any size you fancy. The pastry is deliciously light and is very similar to our quiche pastry (pâte brisée) but it contains a little sugar and more butter, which gives it a tenderness that the other doesn’t have. At the same time it must be firm enough to hold the fruit well.

I have chosen apricots here but apples, cherries, peaches, blueberries or plums are equally good. In fact, you can use any fruit you like, so long as it’s something that can be cooked at the same time as the pastry.

Put the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut the butter into 2cm squares and rub it into the flour until you have a rough mixture. It is very important that you can still see small pieces of butter.

Add the water and lemon juice slowly so that you are just able to bring the dough together. Do not overwork it; when you have a good cohesive dough, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for about one hour.

Cut the apricots into 2cm pieces and mix with the sugar and lemon juice. When the dough is chilled, divide in half. Roll each half on a floured surface to about 3mm thick, and cut into 15cm circles. They don’t have to be perfect. Put them on a lined baking tray and chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Take out and fill the centre of each circle with a generous pile of fruit, putting a little sprinkling of ground almonds underneath each pile to soak up the juices, and leaving a 4cm border uncovered. Fold this border over the fruit to partially cover, pleating as you go, and make sure there are no holes where the fruit juices might leak out.

Refrigerate for 10 minutes while the oven preheats to 190C.

When the galettes are firm, remove from the fridge and brush with mixed egg yolk and cream. Sprinkle over the demerara sugar and bake until the pastry is very golden brown and the apricots are soft.

Serve warm with cream on the side, or just as they are.

Photograph: Kate Fichard

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